icugal
01-08-2008, 00:10
*warning, this is long*
After yet another pregnancy in which I developed Obstetric Cholestasis, I was booked in for an elective caesarean to deliver my second baby (another boy) at 37 weeks and 4 days on the 17th July 2008.
My partner (Tony) and I arrived at the hospital at 6:30am as instructed. After signing all the relevant paperwork at the front desk, we were asked to sit in a nearby waiting room to await the arrival of the midwife, who, as it turns out, was running late. Eventually she showed up and we were taken into a small room to have admission papers completed, obs done and a final listen of bubs heart rate via the doppler. I was then taken into a change room to get dressed into my theatre garb (a lovely revealing gown plus the standard theatre hat and shoes)... whilst Tony was told to take my baggage up to the maternity ward and then to bring the cot back for the baby to go into after the birth (does this hospital not have orderlies??). Once dressed in my hardly-there theatre outfit, I was completely horrified when I was instructed to go sit back out in the waiting room again... I had to face the other couples that were in there (also being admitted to caesars) dressed like that. I think I almost died of embarrassment !!
Thankfully I only had to wait a few minutes before being called by another nurse and we both walked down into the theatre that my baby would be later born in. Tony meanwhile was still delivering my luggage to the ward so I didn't get to say goodbye to him. I didn't realise at that stage that it would be a little while before I'd see him again.
Once in the theatre, I was instructed to sit on the side of the bed. An Anaesthetic Registrar then informed me that he was going to put an IV cannula in my wrist.. which was fine, because I knew that an IV was a necessity of the procedure. Because of the large size of the cannula, he gave me a local to numb the area (thankgod because that needle was HUGE !!) and then proceeded to completely bugger up the cannulation attempt by not getting the needle in the vein (and I have GREAT veins !!). He then tried a second time on the other wrist.. and after stuffing around for about 10 minutes, it was decided that he'd buggered that one up too. Now both of my wrists were swollen with fluid and quite painful (and are still very bruised as I type this now). Being as there was another Anaesthetic Registrar in the theatre (he was the one who'd be doing my spinal).. he took over the cannulation attempt and put the IV into my left forearm first go.
Everybody started to set up to do the spinal but then word came in that the Consultant (who just happened to be one half of the doctors that delivered my first son, Kaelan) was running approximately 25 minutes late because she had missed her alarm and slept in. Everything suddenly came to a grinding halt whilst the staff waited around for her to arrive. Nearly an hour later, she finally showed up... and I was still sitting on the side of theatre bed... whilst poor Tony was stuck out in the waiting room wondering what the heck was going on.
As soon as the consultant walked through the door.. the flurry of activity in setting up the theatre for my caesar resumed. As did the anaesthetist in setting up everything for my spinal.
Throughout my pregnancy (knowing that I'd be having a caesar)... the only thing that had really concerned me about having the procedure was the thought of the spinal insertion. Quite frankly, knowing that a large needle was being inserted between my vertebrae and within almost touching distance of my spinal cord... didn't fill me with a whole lot of joy. When I was given my epidural with my first son, I was in the throes of two minutely contractions during labour so I was well and truly distracted and didn't notice a thing. This time though... there was going to be no distraction.
Unfortunately for me, my concerns became reality when the anaesthetist started having trouble getting the needle through my spine. With each attempt (and even with local anaesthetic), I could feel the large needle graze my vertebrae, whilst concurrently sending a shock wave of pain down my left side. It was awful. As he missed each go, he told me to progressively bend forward a little further each time... to the point where I could barely breathe (full-term baby plus leaning into a plastic-covered pillow is not conducive for effective respirations). Towards the end, I was hot, sweaty and gasping for breath... which didn't help him because he needed me to keep as still as possible. After about an hour of failed insertion attempts (and about 20 needle stabs later)... the anaesthetist told me to prepare for the fact that I might have to be delivered under a general anaesthetic instead... which was the absolute worst case scenario in my mind. Not only would I miss the birth of my baby... but Tony (who was still sitting in the waiting room, some two hours after I'd last seen him) would as well... because the hospital policy would not allow him to be present with me under a general. Suddenly, it seemed that my wonderfully planned elective c-section was turning into a total nightmare.
As the nurses started to pre-emptively prepare the theatre for induction under a general, the anaesthetist (who was a junior) decided to see if the senior anaesthetist on duty was available to have one last go at the spinal insertion... and as it turns out he was. Within a few minutes, he too was poking around my back with large needles. Thankfully though, he had more success and managed to get the combined spinal/epidural in on the first go (which makes me wonder how experienced the first anaesthetist was). Within seconds of the spinal going in, I could feel a warm sensation go through my bottom and down both legs (it almost felt like I was peeing myself)... then the pins and needles kicked in and about five minutes later, I was completely numb. I must say that it is the strangest thing in the world to know that your legs and feet are there... but no matter how hard you try, you just can't move them !! *LOL*
Once again, the theatre staff kicked into action. I was quickly prepped and catheterised and the sterile drapes (including the screen) were applied. At that point, Tony was finally allowed into the theatre and was shown to his seat near my head. We chatted for a few minutes as I tried to explain what had been going on and why he had been waiting for two hours. I then asked the anaesthetist sitting near me when the doctors would start the caesar and he suprised me when he said that they'd already started several minutes earlier (that long-awaited spinal was obviously doing its job *LOL*).
For what seemed like an eternity (but would have been only a few short minutes), I listened to the various sounds of the snips and suctioning as the doctors gradually cut their way through the layers to my uterus. Then I felt the familiar tugging and pulling sensations that I remembered from my previous caesar before our son was finally pulled out, screaming his little lungs out, at exactly 10:00am. The doctors dropped the screen in front of me so that I could see my baby, whilst poor Tony fumbled with the camera to try to get a photo (eventually he did, but it seemed to take ages). Our new son, whom we named Ashton, was then taken over to a nearby table to be cleaned, wrapped, weighed and generally checked over by the midwife. The hospital had recently installed cameras in the theatre over this particular table and a monitor was put within my view so that I could watch everything going on with my baby in those first few minutes whilst I was still lying on the operating table being stitched up. It was such a brilliant use of simple technology !! (I wish it had have been around with my first baby because I barely got to see Kaelan before he was whisked away to the Special Care Nursery). Once cleaned up a bit, I was given Ashton to hold and cuddle for a few minutes. He was then taken by Tony and the midwife up to the ward, while I went to recovery.
Stats
Name: Ashton Daniel John
EDD: 3rd August, 2008
D.O.B: 17th July 2008 at 10:00am
Weight: 3720grams (8lbs, 7ozs)
Length: 51cms
Head circumference: 36cms.
Photos
Welcome to the world Ashton !! (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/july08_01.jpg)
Mum and bub reunited in the ward after the caesar (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/first_pic.jpg)
Baby Ashton (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/ash.jpg)
Ashton and his big brother Kaelan (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/k_ash.jpg)
The aftermath of the spinal (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/spinal.jpg)
After yet another pregnancy in which I developed Obstetric Cholestasis, I was booked in for an elective caesarean to deliver my second baby (another boy) at 37 weeks and 4 days on the 17th July 2008.
My partner (Tony) and I arrived at the hospital at 6:30am as instructed. After signing all the relevant paperwork at the front desk, we were asked to sit in a nearby waiting room to await the arrival of the midwife, who, as it turns out, was running late. Eventually she showed up and we were taken into a small room to have admission papers completed, obs done and a final listen of bubs heart rate via the doppler. I was then taken into a change room to get dressed into my theatre garb (a lovely revealing gown plus the standard theatre hat and shoes)... whilst Tony was told to take my baggage up to the maternity ward and then to bring the cot back for the baby to go into after the birth (does this hospital not have orderlies??). Once dressed in my hardly-there theatre outfit, I was completely horrified when I was instructed to go sit back out in the waiting room again... I had to face the other couples that were in there (also being admitted to caesars) dressed like that. I think I almost died of embarrassment !!
Thankfully I only had to wait a few minutes before being called by another nurse and we both walked down into the theatre that my baby would be later born in. Tony meanwhile was still delivering my luggage to the ward so I didn't get to say goodbye to him. I didn't realise at that stage that it would be a little while before I'd see him again.
Once in the theatre, I was instructed to sit on the side of the bed. An Anaesthetic Registrar then informed me that he was going to put an IV cannula in my wrist.. which was fine, because I knew that an IV was a necessity of the procedure. Because of the large size of the cannula, he gave me a local to numb the area (thankgod because that needle was HUGE !!) and then proceeded to completely bugger up the cannulation attempt by not getting the needle in the vein (and I have GREAT veins !!). He then tried a second time on the other wrist.. and after stuffing around for about 10 minutes, it was decided that he'd buggered that one up too. Now both of my wrists were swollen with fluid and quite painful (and are still very bruised as I type this now). Being as there was another Anaesthetic Registrar in the theatre (he was the one who'd be doing my spinal).. he took over the cannulation attempt and put the IV into my left forearm first go.
Everybody started to set up to do the spinal but then word came in that the Consultant (who just happened to be one half of the doctors that delivered my first son, Kaelan) was running approximately 25 minutes late because she had missed her alarm and slept in. Everything suddenly came to a grinding halt whilst the staff waited around for her to arrive. Nearly an hour later, she finally showed up... and I was still sitting on the side of theatre bed... whilst poor Tony was stuck out in the waiting room wondering what the heck was going on.
As soon as the consultant walked through the door.. the flurry of activity in setting up the theatre for my caesar resumed. As did the anaesthetist in setting up everything for my spinal.
Throughout my pregnancy (knowing that I'd be having a caesar)... the only thing that had really concerned me about having the procedure was the thought of the spinal insertion. Quite frankly, knowing that a large needle was being inserted between my vertebrae and within almost touching distance of my spinal cord... didn't fill me with a whole lot of joy. When I was given my epidural with my first son, I was in the throes of two minutely contractions during labour so I was well and truly distracted and didn't notice a thing. This time though... there was going to be no distraction.
Unfortunately for me, my concerns became reality when the anaesthetist started having trouble getting the needle through my spine. With each attempt (and even with local anaesthetic), I could feel the large needle graze my vertebrae, whilst concurrently sending a shock wave of pain down my left side. It was awful. As he missed each go, he told me to progressively bend forward a little further each time... to the point where I could barely breathe (full-term baby plus leaning into a plastic-covered pillow is not conducive for effective respirations). Towards the end, I was hot, sweaty and gasping for breath... which didn't help him because he needed me to keep as still as possible. After about an hour of failed insertion attempts (and about 20 needle stabs later)... the anaesthetist told me to prepare for the fact that I might have to be delivered under a general anaesthetic instead... which was the absolute worst case scenario in my mind. Not only would I miss the birth of my baby... but Tony (who was still sitting in the waiting room, some two hours after I'd last seen him) would as well... because the hospital policy would not allow him to be present with me under a general. Suddenly, it seemed that my wonderfully planned elective c-section was turning into a total nightmare.
As the nurses started to pre-emptively prepare the theatre for induction under a general, the anaesthetist (who was a junior) decided to see if the senior anaesthetist on duty was available to have one last go at the spinal insertion... and as it turns out he was. Within a few minutes, he too was poking around my back with large needles. Thankfully though, he had more success and managed to get the combined spinal/epidural in on the first go (which makes me wonder how experienced the first anaesthetist was). Within seconds of the spinal going in, I could feel a warm sensation go through my bottom and down both legs (it almost felt like I was peeing myself)... then the pins and needles kicked in and about five minutes later, I was completely numb. I must say that it is the strangest thing in the world to know that your legs and feet are there... but no matter how hard you try, you just can't move them !! *LOL*
Once again, the theatre staff kicked into action. I was quickly prepped and catheterised and the sterile drapes (including the screen) were applied. At that point, Tony was finally allowed into the theatre and was shown to his seat near my head. We chatted for a few minutes as I tried to explain what had been going on and why he had been waiting for two hours. I then asked the anaesthetist sitting near me when the doctors would start the caesar and he suprised me when he said that they'd already started several minutes earlier (that long-awaited spinal was obviously doing its job *LOL*).
For what seemed like an eternity (but would have been only a few short minutes), I listened to the various sounds of the snips and suctioning as the doctors gradually cut their way through the layers to my uterus. Then I felt the familiar tugging and pulling sensations that I remembered from my previous caesar before our son was finally pulled out, screaming his little lungs out, at exactly 10:00am. The doctors dropped the screen in front of me so that I could see my baby, whilst poor Tony fumbled with the camera to try to get a photo (eventually he did, but it seemed to take ages). Our new son, whom we named Ashton, was then taken over to a nearby table to be cleaned, wrapped, weighed and generally checked over by the midwife. The hospital had recently installed cameras in the theatre over this particular table and a monitor was put within my view so that I could watch everything going on with my baby in those first few minutes whilst I was still lying on the operating table being stitched up. It was such a brilliant use of simple technology !! (I wish it had have been around with my first baby because I barely got to see Kaelan before he was whisked away to the Special Care Nursery). Once cleaned up a bit, I was given Ashton to hold and cuddle for a few minutes. He was then taken by Tony and the midwife up to the ward, while I went to recovery.
Stats
Name: Ashton Daniel John
EDD: 3rd August, 2008
D.O.B: 17th July 2008 at 10:00am
Weight: 3720grams (8lbs, 7ozs)
Length: 51cms
Head circumference: 36cms.
Photos
Welcome to the world Ashton !! (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/july08_01.jpg)
Mum and bub reunited in the ward after the caesar (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/first_pic.jpg)
Baby Ashton (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/ash.jpg)
Ashton and his big brother Kaelan (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/k_ash.jpg)
The aftermath of the spinal (http://www.penny-clark.com/ashton/spinal.jpg)